Brussels

Brussels
/brus"euhlz/, n.
a city in and the capital of Belgium, in the central part, with suburbs 1,050,787. Flemish, Brussel /brddyuus"euhl/; French, Bruxelles.

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French Bruxelles Flemish Brussel

City (pop., 2000 est.: 133,900), capital of Belgium.

Part of the Brussels Capital Region (pop., 2000 est.: 959,300), one of the three regions into which Belgium is divided, it lies on the Senne River, a tributary of the Schelde. The village began on an island in the Senne and ultimately became a holding of the dukes of Brabant. In 1530 it became the capital of the Netherlands, which was then under Habsburg control. Part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands from 1815, it became a centre of Belgian rebellion in 1830 and then the capital of Belgium. An important industrial and commercial city, it is the headquarters of both NATO and the European Union.

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Introduction
Flemish  Brussel,  French  Bruxelles 
 city, capital of Belgium. It is located in the valley of the Senne (Flemish: Zenne) River, a small tributary of the Scheldt (French: Escaut). Bruxelles-Capitale, also called Greater Brussels, is the country's largest urban agglomeration. It consists of 19 communes, or municipalities, each with a large measure of administrative autonomy. Although the average visitor might remain unaware of this dispersal of local government powers, it holds the key to an understanding of many of the urban problems afflicting the contemporary city. It has, for example, impeded the harmonious development of the spreading built-up areas that reflect the increase in population that has occurred since 1830, and an adequate solution to the traffic problem has been rendered especially difficult.

      A further major problem arises from the geographic location of the city. It lies just a few miles north of the invisible “language boundary” separating the country's Flemish (Dutch language)-speaking region of Flanders in the north from the southern, French-speaking (French language) Walloon region. Brussels is thus surrounded by Flemish territory and was historically a predominantly Flemish-speaking city, but at present the majority of residents in the Brussels agglomeration speak French. Officially, as the Belgian capital, the city is strictly bilingual, and in all spheres of public life Flemish and French are used side by side. Nevertheless, in the 20th century Brussels was the principal venue for political clashes between Flemings and Walloons. Partly as a result of these conflicts, the Belgian Parliament reorganized the country's structure on the basis of three regions: Flanders, Wallonia, and the Brussels-Capital Region. Although the Brussels-Capital Region maintains a separate political identity, the city of Brussels also functions as the capital of the Flemish Region and as the capital of Belgium's French Community.

      Brussels is the administrative, commercial, and financial heart of Belgium, and all services and institutions of national importance are based in the city. Brussels is, in addition, a major European tourist and cultural attraction, functioning simultaneously as regional metropolis, national capital, and international centre. The last-named role has flourished since the city became host to the European Communities (now the European Union; EU) as well as to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) headquarters. Pop. (2006 est.) city, 145,717; urban agglom., 1,024,492.

Physical and human geography

The landscape
      Brussels lies in the central plateaus of Belgium. Its relative proximity to the North Sea gives it a mild, moderate climate, with summer temperatures usually between 68 and 77 °F (20 and 25 °C) and winter temperatures rarely falling below 32 °F (0 °C).

      Seen from the air, the historic Old Town of Inner Brussels has the shape of a pentagon. It forms the centre of the modern metropolis, but the walls that once surrounded it were replaced by a ring of boulevards in the mid-1800s, around the time that Belgium became an independent kingdom. Since then, Brussels has been transformed, in the Old Town as well as in the surrounding communes. The determining factor in this metamorphosis has been incessant population pressure, which caused a building boom and the development of an ever-widening network of streets, avenues, and roads crisscrossing the countryside and urbanizing the neighbouring villages.

      At first the urban tentacles only pushed forward along the seven or eight routes radiating from the tollgates along the old city walls, but after the toll system was abolished in 1860 they also spread along new roads. The suburbs expanded rapidly beyond the town gates, and by the end of the 19th century the territory of several of the first ring of communes was completely or almost completely covered by residential buildings. The expansion continued into the 20th century, in all directions: north and south along the valley of the Senne, and east and west on the undulating plateaus separated by the tributaries of the Senne (Maalbeek, Woluwe, and others).

      As a result, the landscape was entirely changed. With rare exceptions, the ponds and pools of earlier days were filled in; most of the hollows were banked up; the rivers and streams covered over and converted into sewers; the small woods cut down; fields, pastures, and orchards parceled out for development; and footpaths eliminated. The Senne River became a main sewer running under the wide, straight central boulevards of Inner Brussels, linking the North (1841) and the South (1869) railway stations. In 1911 the city began building a series of railway tunnels and viaducts connecting the North and South stations by way of the underground Central Station (1952). This so-called North–South link was completed in 1956. Although the link facilitated transportation, several decaying residential areas had to be demolished during its construction, an action that caused some regret.

      Greater Brussels is not entirely built over, mainly because, with the introduction of rapid means of transport, urban development has leapfrogged to satellite communities rather than proceeding by continuous, uninterrupted expansion. Since the 19th century, the boundaries of the Brussels agglomeration changed repeatedly, giving the sprawling metropolis the appearance of an amoeba. In the latter third of the 20th century, however, legislation resulting from Belgium's linguistic and community conflicts strictly confined the city within the limits of its 19 constituent municipalities.

 Inner Brussels is divided between the commercial quarter and the upper town, where the principal governmental buildings are situated. The commercial quarter extends from the western outer boulevards to a little east of the central boulevards and includes the medieval marketplace known as the Grand Place. This square, with its elaborately decorated 17th-century guildhalls, lies at the heart of the Old Town. It is occupied on its south side by the imposing Town Hall and on its north by the ornate King's House (Maison du Roi; almost entirely rebuilt during 1873–95), which contains the historical museum. One of the curiosities of this quarter is the Manneken-Pis Fountain (1619), noted for a small bronze statue of a boy urinating and known to the people of Brussels as their oldest “citizen.”

      The upper town is the remaining eastern area of the inner city. It is crossed from southwest to northeast by a major thoroughfare, on which stand the Royal Palace and the Palace of the Nation. The latter was erected (1779–83) by the Austrian governors and after independence became the home of the Senate and the Chamber of Representatives. It stands at the intersection of the rue Royale (Koningsstraat) and the rue de la Loi (Wetstraat), an area that has become a symbol for the national government.

The people
      The population of the Brussels agglomeration grew steadily from 57,000 in 1755, when the first census was held, to 104,000 in 1830, 626,000 in 1900, 892,000 in 1930, and some 1,000,000 in 1970. It remained just above 1,000,000 into the early 21st century. The population of the inner city increased in line with that of the total agglomeration until about 1890, when it stood at 160,000; it decreased sharply during the first half of the 20th century, falling to about 60,000 by the 1960s, though the population reached more than twice that number by the early 21st century.

      Immigration has had a significant impact on the demographic and linguistic evolution of the city. In the 19th century the immigrants usually came from Flanders (Fleming and Walloon) or Wallonia, although there was also a large expatriate community from France and, to a lesser extent, Germany. Until then Brussels remained the Flemish city it had always been, with only about one-third of its inhabitants speaking French. The new Flemish immigrants, however, belonged on the whole to the lower strata of society (domestic servants, labourers), whereas the Walloon immigrants were predominantly middle-class employees and civil servants. Largely as a result of social pressure and the prestige of French, by the mid-20th century a large majority of Bruxellois spoke French. It is thought that at least three-quarters of the population of Brussels may now be predominantly French-speaking.

      In many respects Flemish and French speakers have their own cultural circuits. Broadly speaking, Flemish-language cultural life is more in evidence in the northwestern part of the agglomeration and French-language culture in the southeastern part. A number of cultural establishments, however, from the Théâtre de la Monnaie (Muntschouwburg) to the Ancient Belgium cabaret, are shared by the two communities, many middle-class Bruxellois being conversant in both languages. In recent years a new Flemish elite has emerged, improving the prospects for the Flemish language in the Belgian capital.

      Beginning in the mid-1960s, the immigration from western European countries of personnel for the European Communities and, later, the EU substantially altered the composition of the population of Brussels. Manual workers and their families from such countries as Spain, Italy, Greece, Morocco, and Turkey also arrived—in much larger numbers. EU employees generally live in the upper part of the city or in the leafier suburbs. Immigrants from the Mediterranean region form a much larger group in central Brussels. A young population with a high birth rate, they make up as much as half the population of such boroughs as Saint-Josse-ten-Node (Sint-Joost-ten-Node) and Saint-Gilles (Sint-Gillis). In general, these immigrants have retained their cultural distinctness; the municipality of Schaerbeek (Schaarbeek), for example, has a large number of mosques.

The economy
      In the early days of national independence, in the 1830s, food markets in the Old Town were supplied by the neighbouring villages. These have since been urbanized, and industrial, commercial, and service activities have been substituted for rural work.

      Brussels's most important industrial zone is located on the city's south–north axis, along the valley of the Senne, where the port of Brussels developed and where the railway lines run. Food processing and the manufacture of machinery, electrical products, chemicals, and textiles are the leading industries. White-collar workers far outnumber blue-collar workers, however. In fact, the financial and service industries account for more than two-thirds of all employment in Brussels.

      The capital has been the financial heart of Belgium and a major commercial centre ever since the private and powerful holding company the Société Générale de Belgique was established there in 1822. Domestic and foreign banking institutions and insurance companies have appeared in increasing numbers. Because most of the large Belgian industrial and commercial concerns have their registered offices in Brussels, it constitutes the decision-making centre for economic and financial affairs. With the establishment of the European Common Market, many multinational corporations have set up their regional coordinating offices there. Brussels has also developed into an international economic centre, with an important stock exchange and an annual commercial fair.

      Brussels's working population amounts to almost half of its total population; this high proportion is explained by the fact that many women are employed, usually in the commercial or service sectors. Both the standard and the cost of living are relatively high; the average income per person is significantly higher in Brussels than in either Flanders or Wallonia, although the gap is narrowing.

      The importance of Brussels to the national economy is evident from the fact that the city provides work for a disproportionate percentage of Belgium's economically active population. Commuters make up one-third of the entire Brussels work force; more than two-thirds of the commuters come from Flanders, mostly from Flemish Brabant. As a result, the streets of the city change dramatically at rush hours, when tens of thousands of commuters are traveling, predominantly by train and car. To alleviate the worsening traffic problems and to counter the diminishing use of communal transport in the agglomeration, in 1965 the city began developing a comprehensive subway network. The first line was opened in 1976; five lines now extend to all parts of Greater Brussels.

      The city has also developed an extensive external transportation system. A ring of modern motorways surrounds Greater Brussels, forming a hub of radiating highways that link the major cities of Belgium. Brussels is also the focal point of the Belgian railway system, one of the densest in the world. At peak times the city's Central Station, which is restricted to six underground tracks, has up to 100 trains passing through every hour. A special line connects the Central Station with the Brussels National Airport (at Zaventem, to the east) in approximately 10 minutes.

      The city's easy accessibility and central geographic location in western Europe have proved beneficial to its tourist trade. Many overseas visitors to the Continent use Brussels as a convenient base or starting point for their travels.

Administration and social conditions
      Brussels was the historic capital of the duchy of Brabant; after Belgian independence it continued as the capital of the province of Brabant until 1995, when the latter was divided into separate Walloon and Flemish provinces. The de facto national capital since the 15th century, Brussels became the de jure capital of the Kingdom of Belgium in 1830. The king has his palace there, facing the Palace of the Nation, which houses the Chamber of Representatives and the Senate. For a long time the various ministries were close by, but several have migrated to the Residence Palace and to other, more functional administrative buildings.

      In 1836 the Belgian parliament passed the “organic” communal law, which provided for the autonomy of each commune. This explains why Greater Brussels for long was governed by 19 separate communal authorities and not by one single authority. Attempts to coordinate administration, such as the formation of the Assembly of Burgomasters in 1933, had no official status.

      In 1970–71 Parliament amended the constitution to provide for the recognition of three regions (Flemish-speaking Flanders, French-speaking Wallonia, and bilingual Brussels). After further administrative restructuring during the 1980s and '90s, Belgium became a federal state. National authorities now share power with executive and legislative bodies representing the three regions, including the Brussels-Capital Region, and the major language communities of the country (Flemish, French, and German). Each of the 19 communes of Brussels also continues to have its own council and municipal establishments.

Public services
      Brussels's communal services proliferated after 1830 as the city's population grew and became more mobile. The effect of larger scale and faster speed has meant growth in existing administrative departments as well as the creation of many new ones, such as the water, gas, and electricity administrations and the departments for youth and sports, for the aged, for burial services, and for education and the fine arts. Several of the communal industrial administrations have been replaced by intercommunal corporations (water, gas, and electricity). The public transport services (trains and buses) have been entrusted to a corporation of this kind.

      Students may attend state-run or so-called “free” (i.e., Roman Catholic) schools; both types are subsidized by the state. Families are free to send their children to either Flemish-language or French-language schools. The reluctance of some municipalities to provide facilities for primary and secondary education in Flemish caused resentment among Flemings in the mid-20th century. Inner Brussels has played an exemplary role in setting up scholastic institutions, most notably its generous contributions to the foundation in 1834 of the Free University of Brussels and to its development.

Cultural life
      Brussels is an artistic and tourist centre with a wide variety of cultural activities. In addition to the Free University (divided since 1970 into a French-speaking and a Flemish-speaking university), the royal academies of science, medicine, French language and literature, and Flemish language and literature are based there, as are various other institutes of higher learning, including the largest branch of the National Archive, the Albert I Royal Library, and many museums of national or local importance.

      The Palace of Fine Arts, designed by the Art Nouveau architect Victor Horta and opened in 1928, provides a cultural centre for those interested in the visual arts, film, music, literature, and the theatre. Most of the city's large-scale art exhibitions are presented there, and it is the headquarters of the Philharmonic Society and the National Federation of Youth and Music. The annual Queen Elisabeth of Belgium International Music Contest attracts worldwide interest. Midday poetry readings and concerts are held weekly. Most of the communes in the agglomeration have, on the model of the Palace of Fine Arts, established cultural centres that organize exhibitions, stage shows, and concerts.

      The two outstanding periods in Brussels's cultural history were the late medieval flowering under the Burgundians (most of the town's Gothic churches date from this era) and the late 19th to early 20th century, when Brussels was a centre of innovation in literature, theatre, architecture (Henry van de Velde, Horta), and painting (the Surrealists Paul Delvaux and René Magritte). Contemporary cultural life is cosmopolitan, although France provides much of the inspiration. Foremost among the theatres are the French-language National Theatre and the National Opera House. The French choreographer Maurice Béjart and his Ballet of the 20th Century were based in the city from 1960 until 1987. The minority Flemish-language culture of Brussels is less visible but quite dynamic.

      Not far from the urban centre are scenic walks in the magnificent beech groves of the Soignes Forest (Zoniënwoud) and its offshoot, the Cambre (Terkameren) Woods. The city's main sports stadium is located in Heysel (Heizel), a northern district of the Brussels commune, where the 1958 World Exhibition was held.

History

Early settlement and growth
Origins
      The oldest known reference to Brussels dates to the 7th century and has the form Bruocsella, which means “settlement in the marshes.” The name reflects the fact that the city owes its origin to the establishment, in the 6th century, of a fortified castle on a small island in the Senne River, which flows from south to north, and to an east–west economic route linking Rhenish towns such as Cologne with Brugge (Bruges), Ypres (Ieper), and other towns in the county of Flanders. At the point where road and river crossed, a market and bartering place developed under the protection of the dukes of Brabant. By the 12th century the settlement was surrounded by defensive ramparts with towers and fortified gateways.

      During the 12th, 13th, and 14th centuries Brussels grew to become one of the major towns of the duchy of Brabant. Its economic mainstay was the manufacture of luxury fabrics, which were exported to fairs in Paris, Venice, the Champagne region of France, and elsewhere. The cloth trade made fortunes for a few enterprising merchant families, who developed into seven dynasties that, with the help of the duke of Brabant, acquired a position of complete political mastery. In control of business and municipal affairs, they also exercised power as magistrates, giving rulings on disputes arising among the inhabitants, as well as acting as a court of appeal for neighbouring areas. The prevailing regime was, in fact, strongly plutocratic in nature.

      Abuse of such powers provoked violent popular uprisings in 1280, 1303, 1360, and 1421. This last upheaval led to a more equitable system of government, with local powers divided between the patrician families and the emergent guilds of craftsmen and other workers. Gradually, however, the patrician elite regained political control; as late as 1719 a popular revolt led by Frans Anneessens ended with his public execution.

Centuries of occupation
      Events of particular significance in the 14th century were the invasion of the duchy of Brabant by the Count of Flanders' troops, their brief occupation of Brussels, and the construction, immediately after the town's liberation, of huge fortified walls (1357–79), which survived until the first half of the 19th century.

      In 1430 the duchy was merged in the possessions of the duke of Burgundy. The Burgundian period, which lasted until 1477, was one of political and artistic prestige. Brussels became the seat of the central administrative bodies for the ducal possessions in the Low Countries, which constituted a rich centre of art and culture. Pictures by Rogier van der Weyden, the officially appointed town painter, sculptures in wood, large tapestries with historical motifs, plate, jewelry, and other products by Brussels craftsmen came to be exported in all directions.

      Brussels began to beautify itself: by the marketplace, the Town Hall (1402–54) rose proudly, with its tall perforated steeple surmounted by a statue of the archangel Michael, the city's patron saint. Various Gothic churches and cathedrals and the ducal Coudenberg Palace, with its extensive park, added to the architectural splendour.

      After a prolonged political crisis caused by an abortive rebellion against the future Holy Roman emperor Maximilian I at the end of the 15th century, Brussels regained its position as a capital during the reign of Charles V (1519–59). The three government councils (the Council of State, the Privy Council, and the Finance Council) were established there permanently. The city's population grew to nearly 50,000 by the mid-16th century. In 1561 a canal linking Brussels with Willebroek was dug, providing direct access to the Rupel and the Scheldt rivers and thus to the port of Antwerp and the North Sea. Replacing the sandy little Senne river, the Willebroek Canal played an important commercial role.

      The Reformation did not leave Brussels untouched. Two Lutheran preachers died there at the stake in 1523, the first Protestant martyrs in the Low Countries; many more Lutherans, Anabaptists, and Calvinists followed. During the Revolt of the Netherlands, Brussels was under Calvinist rule from 1578 until 1585, when the southern provinces of the Low Countries (which included modern-day Belgium) separated from the northern provinces (now the Kingdom of The Netherlands), surrendered to the Spanish Habsburgs, and returned to the Roman Catholic fold.

      The Counter-Reformation and the reign of Archduke Albert and Isabella (1598–1633) left their mark on the urban surroundings with the construction of a series of fine churches in the Italo-Flemish Baroque style, nearly all of which are still in existence. In the second half of the 17th century there were repeated invasions by the armies of Louis XIV of France. During a bombardment by his troops in 1695, hundreds of buildings were destroyed by fire, including the various craft headquarters. Out of this catastrophe there arose new guildhalls, the architectural landmarks now surrounding the Grand' Place.

      Brussels suffered a brief but costly occupation by French troops in 1746–48, but as part of the Austrian Netherlands it profited from the general economic recovery in the latter half of the 18th century, becoming a financial centre and gaining new industries. The upper part of the town was the scene of urban planning on a large scale, which resulted in the Place Royale and Brussels Park. The park is, following the French model, perfectly symmetrical and surrounded by Neoclassical buildings, of which the largest is the Palace of the Nation.

      Following the Brabant revolt (1788–90) against the government of Emperor Joseph II of Austria, the French republican armies made their appearance, and the Belgian principalities were annexed to France. During the Napoleonic era, Brussels was reduced to the rank of chief town of the French département of the Dyle, losing in addition all authority over its satellite villages.

      One of the consequences of Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo was the creation of the United Kingdom of The Netherlands. This reunion of the southern and northern provinces, which had been separated in the 16th century, lasted 15 years (1815–30). During this period Brussels shared the status of capital with The Hague. Its appearance changed appreciably, above all because of the demolition of the city walls (1810–40) and their replacement by treelined boulevards, as well as the digging of the Brussels–Charleroi Canal, which from 1832 onward made waterborne transport possible from as far as the province of Hainaut to the port of Antwerp via the capital.

      In 1830 came revolution; Belgium won its independence, and, in the constitution adopted by the National Congress, Brussels, which had played a major role in the uprising against the Flemish, was named the capital of Belgium and the seat of government. As a result, the city's growing political and administrative role enhanced its importance as an economic and financial centre. With a population of more than 123,000 in 1846, it became the central node of Belgium's road and railway network. Its material infrastructure was greatly improved by means of a modern sewage and water supply system (1854–55), the introduction of public transport, and the development of new residential districts. The fragmented local administration, however, was to be streamlined only partly and gradually, as suburban areas were incorporated into the agglomeration; but the influence of the Brussels elite in Belgian national politics remained predominant throughout the 19th century.

The 20th century
      In World War I the German occupation of Belgium lasted from August 1914 to November 1918. Numerous social relief movements were instituted; among them, the National Committee for Relief and Food (Comité National de Secours et d'Alimentation) had its headquarters in Brussels and with U.S. aid organized the feeding of the Belgian population. Adolphe de Max (Max, Adolphe), the burgomaster of Brussels, acquired fame for his resistance to the abuses of the German occupiers. The Belgian army reoccupied the capital on Nov. 18, 1918, and four days later King Albert I and Queen Elisabeth reentered the city in state. After the war, the administrative expansion of metropolitan Brussels that had begun in the 19th century continued. The area grew from nine municipalities in 1878 to 16 in 1932 and to 19 in 1954. This metropolitan, or Greater, Brussels became an officially bilingual city in 1932.

      In World War II Brussels fell to the invading German army on May 18, 1940. The city did not suffer extensive physical damage but was subjected to harsh terms of occupation. To facilitate control, General Eggert Reeder, chief of the German military administration for Belgium, decided to follow the Nazi policy of creating large urban zones by amalgamating the communes. In order to crush the spirited opposition to this measure, Reeder dissolved all municipal councils and dismissed Joseph van de Meulebroeck, the leader of the opposition, from his post as burgomaster of Brussels. Reeder then appointed a governing council headed by Jan Grauls, a pro-Nazi Flemish (Fleming and Walloon) nationalist. As in World War I, Germany tried to divide the nation by supporting partisans of Flemish autonomy. Although few Flemings actually collaborated with the enemy, anti-Flemish feelings ran high in metropolitan Brussels. The city was liberated on Sept. 3, 1944, by the British. Five days later the legitimate Belgian government returned to its capital from London.

      Since World War II, Brussels has become decidedly more international, with the establishment of the EEC Commission and Council offices in Inner Brussels (1958) and the move of the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) headquarters from Paris to the northeastern commune of Evere (1967). The city also was host to a successful world's fair in 1958, which helped to rejuvenate the weakened postwar economy.

      Domestically, however, the situation has been less harmonious. The city has repeatedly been at the centre of tensions between the Flemish and Walloon communities of Belgium, as the Flemings have pressed for effective bilingualism in the public services in Brussels itself and have opposed any further expansion of the mainly French-speaking metropolis into neighbouring Flemish areas. Massive Flemish demonstrations against “Frenchification and territorial annexation” were held in the streets of Brussels in 1961 and 1962. In an attempt to settle the issue, Parliament passed a law in 1963 that restricted the capital to its 19 officially bilingual municipalities but extended language facilities to French-speaking minorities in six suburban boroughs. The Francophone countermobilization against what was regarded as Flemish (Dutch language) interference in city affairs led to the formation of the Brussels-based Francophone Democratic Front in 1964. Whereas the Flemings were intent on preventing the Francophone influence from spreading further, the French-speaking (French language) residents of Brussels resented the imposition of a legal carcan, or “straitjacket,” on the city. The front's rapid growth gave it a firm political hold in the late 1970s, but its demise in the early 1980s was equally rapid, as the deepening national and international economic crisis drew attention away from the language conflict. The faltering economy also temporarily halted the reforms begun in 1962 devolving power from the central government to the communities and regions.

Louis Verniers Theo Jozef Hermans
      As a result of constitutional and administrative reform in Belgium in the late 1980s and '90s, Brussels was established as one of three autonomous regions, along with the Flemish and Walloon regions. As the EEC (later renamed the European Community in the European Union [EU]) expanded in size and scope in the last decades of the 20th century, Brussels developed as the capital of the “new Europe,” hosting many of the EU's institutions, including the European Parliament, the Commission, the Council of the European Union, the Economic and Social Committee, and the Council of the Regions. The name “Brussels,” however, began to be employed as a pejorative by opponents of European integration, who lamented the increasing role ceded to EU institutions by member countries. With the creation of European economic and monetary union, the introduction of the euro, the EU's single currency, and the expansion of NATO in the 1990s, Brussels's central role in European affairs was expected to continue.

Ed.

Additional Reading

Descriptive works
Older standard books providing good coverage of historic buildings and monuments include Alexandre Henne and Alphonse Wauters, Histoire de la ville de Bruxelles, new ed., 4 vol. (1968–69); Alphonse Wauters, Histoire des environs de Bruxelles: ou description historique des localités qui formaient autrefois l'ammanie de cette ville, 3 vol. (1855–57, reprinted 1968); Guillaume Jacquemyns, Histoire contemporaine du Grand-Bruxelles (1936); and Guillaume Des Marez, Guide illustré de Bruxelles, monuments civils et religieux, 4th ed., supplemented by A. Rousseau (1958), an excellent handbook. Hans Von Stahlborn (comp.), Baedeker's Brussels, rev. ed., trans. from German (1987), is a useful handbook.

Social and economic conditions
Demographic and administrative aspects of the city's history are the subject of A.-M. Bogaert-Damin and L. Maréchal, Bruxelles, développement de l'ensemble urbain, 1846-1961: analyse historique et statistique des recensements (1978); W. De Lannoy and M. Rampelbergh, Atlas socio-géographique de Bruxelles et de sa périphérie (1981); and Anne-Marie Kumps, Robert Wtterwulghe, and Francis Delpérée (eds.), L'Avenir de Bruxelles: aspects économiques et institutionnels (1980). Social conditions are studied in the works from the series “L'Agglomération bruxelloise”: Marie Laure Roggemans, La Ville est un système social: pour une définition sociologique du phénomène urbain (1971); Nicole Delruelle and Marie Laure Roggemans, La Grande Ville: rapports sociaux et attractivité du centreville (1974); and Bernard Jouret, Définition spatiale du phénomène urbain bruxellois (1972). For a discussion of the language issue in modern Brussels, see Elizabeth Sherman Swing, Bilingualism and Linguistic Segregation in the Schools of Brussels (1980); and Els Witte and Hugo Baetens Beardsmore, The Interdisciplinary Study of Urban Bilingualism in Brussels (1987).

History:
The growth of the city is studied in Louis Verniers, Un Millénaire d'histoire de Bruxelles: depuis les origines jusq'en 1830 (1965), and Bruxelles et son agglomération de 1830 à nos jours (1958). Janet L. Polasky, Revolution in Brussels, 1787-1793 (1987), studies in detail the period of the French Revolution and its influence on the city. Other modern surveys include Marcel Vanhamme, Bruxelles: de bourg rural à cité mondiale (1968; Dutch title, Brussel: van landelijke nederzetting tot wereldstad); Mina Martens (ed.), Histoire de Bruxelles (1976); Jean Stengers et al. (eds.), Bruxelles: croissance d'une capitale (1979; Dutch title, Brussel: groei van een hoofdstad); and Christine Weightman and Anthony Barnes, Brussels: Grote Markt to Common Market (1976).Louis Verniers Theo Jozef Hermans

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • BRUSSELS — BRUSSELS, capital of belgium . A Jewish community existed in Brussels by the mid 13th century. Its cultural standard is attested to by the fine illuminated Pentateuch completed there by the scribe Isaac for Ḥayyim, son of the martyr Ḥayyim, in… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Brussels — Brus sels, n. A city of Belgium, giving its name to a kind of carpet, a kind of lace, etc. [1913 Webster] {Brussels carpet}, a kind of carpet made of worsted yarn fixed in a foundation web of strong linen thread. The worsted, which alone shows on …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • brussels — carpet (woven with a raised pattern by a method first used in Brussels); brussels griffon (toy dog bred in Brussels); brussels lace (high quality floralpattern lace); brussels sprouts (small cabbage like vegetable) …   Eponyms, nicknames, and geographical games

  • Brussels — ist der Name mehrerer Orte in den Vereinigten Staaten: Brussels (Illinois) Brussels (Wisconsin) …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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